Hong Kong’s Catholic leader slams those who would justify violence and sow divisions in the church

The leader of Hong Kong’s Catholic diocese has slammed some followers for purportedly justifying violence and dividing the church by condemning those who do not share their stance. Cardinal John Tong Hon, apostolic administrator of Hong Kong, said treating others as “enemies” was inconsistent with the Christian faith, and that the teachings of the church had never endorsed hatred and violence as a means to achieve justice. He went on to say that priests should not exert their influence on Catholics when it came to social concerns – although they should enlighten them. The strongly worded message was delivered in Tong’s pastoral letter, issued on Monday. In the missive, Tong said there was no denying that the social turmoil that rocked Hong Kong last year had exposed deep-rooted problems. “The public is fully justified in expecting the local government to take action promptly to address their aspirations for justice, democracy and a more decent quality of life,” he said. But he pointed to serious consequences brought about by the social turmoil. “One of these is the ‘hatred’ of some sectors of the public towards those who do not share their stance or endorse their actions in regard to socio-political reforms,” he said. “Regrettably these negative attitudes have also found their way into church circles.” Tong said “not a few” Catholics had adopted the stance that “the end justifies the means” in striving for the well-being of society, believing violence could be rationalised, and that some actions were either entirely right or entirely wrong, leaving no room for anything “in between”. “Those who do not share their stance or endorse their actions in regard to social or political issues are to be openly condemned, smeared and rejected, without any possibility of dialogue or reconciliation with them,” the church leader said in his letter, titled “In Communion with the Church”. Catholic schools in Hong Kong told to keep ‘one-sided politics’ out of classroom “Holding on to the above stances with tenacity, those Catholics have created a division in our diocese,” Tong said. “Just as it is commonplace now for people to use abusive and slanderous language on social media against those from the opposing camps, we find some Catholics behaving in the same way in dealing with those who do not share their stance or approve their actions, be they church leaders, priests, deacons, or other church members.” Tong said the clergy should enlighten the faithful and form their consciences through the teachings of the Catholic Church so that they could adopt a balanced approach when it came to social concerns, though priests should not exert their influence directly in those areas, he added. Tong’s pastoral letter was issued three weeks after the Justice and Peace Commission of the Hong Kong Catholic diocese dropped, amid opposition from church leaders, a crowdfunding campaign that would have bought advertising space in the pro-opposition Chinese-language newspaper Apple Daily to run a prayer for the city’s democratic development in light of the national security law’s imposition. Some Catholics later took out an advertisement of their own in Apple Daily to run a similar prayer. The Beijing-imposed law went into effect on June 30, and prohibits in broad terms any acts of secession, subversion, terrorism or collusion with external forces. Catholic group drops planned public prayer for Hong Kong after diocese pushback Chan Shun-hing, a professor with Baptist University’s department of religion and philosophy, said Tong wanted to protect the authority of the diocese, as he was worried that criticism by Catholics of the church’s leadership would undermine its credibility. “Tong’s letter may result in some priests avoiding political issues in their preaching so as not to be seen as creating division,” Chan said. Still, he noted, the cardinal’s appeal was unlikely to make much difference in an increasingly polarised Hong Kong. Father Stephen Chan Mun-hung, meanwhile, said he believed the cardinal’s appeal was made with good intentions. “But it’s the cardinal’s personal judgment that some Catholics rationalise violence and condemn other followers who do not share their stance,” Chan said, noting that Tong did not give any specific examples.